We have
longstanding good relations with BASF, which has been working in Russia for a long time now in various sectors, chemicals and household chemicals, for example. The company is investing good money in localising production in Russia.

Energy is the other
big sector in which BASF is working here. You have ties with different Russian
companies, including LUKOIL and Gazprom. You are a visible and significant
shareholder in the Nord Stream pipeline, and as far as I understand the situation, you support continuation of this project, the Nord Stream 2 project,
which is a purely economic venture.

In this respect,
let me repeat that this project is not aimed against any of our partners.
What’s more, we are ready to continue relations with all partners, including
Ukraine, as transit countries, but we take the position that there will be
reliable and economically advantageous market conditions for this cooperation.

With Europe’s gas
consumption on the increase, and the drop in production in European countries,
Nord Stream 2 is very much a natural project.

We are pleased to see that our reliable partners in Europe in general, and in Germany, continue
to work actively in Russia. Unfortunately, recent economic events have had a negative impact on our reciprocal trade. The Committee on Eastern European
Economic Relations estimates that Germany has lost at least 150,000 jobs as a result of these unfavourable events.

But we do not lose
hope that we will be able to restore full-format cooperation. Of course, we
will continue to work hard on this with our economic partners, and with our
partners at the political level. On May 2, as you know, we are expecting
Federal Chancellor Ms Merkel’s visit.

President and CEO
of BASF Kurt Bock(retranslated): Mr President, thank you
very much for giving me and my colleague on the board, Hans-Ulrich Engel, the chance to be here today and say a few words.

BASF has been
working actively on the Russian market for more than 140 years now, including
with our friends and partners from Gazprom.

We are active in two sectors here, chemicals and energy. These last two years have not been easy
for us, but we have noted a growth trend starting this year. The basic
conditions for continued growth are better now than they were a while ago. We
will make the effort needed to make use of these opportunities. We recently
discussed these matters with the Industry Minister. We will continue, of course, to our efforts to localise production here.

Our cooperation in the energy sector, specifically in the gas sector, is developing very, very
well. This sector is of great importance for us. Of course, the main project in this area at the moment is Nord Stream 2. We completed the Nord Stream 1
project with success together. I think we will have the same success with Nord
Stream 2, given that we now have successful experience of working together.